Spring Flowers
by fishsticklemon
Summary: For Tumblr's Touhou Ship Collab, "Spring Flowers and Autumn Moon." Vaguely fluffy, vaguely angsty Kosuzu/Akyuu oneshot.


The human village is a haven in Gensokyo. The Forest of Magic, the Youkai Mountain, the Misty Lake, and countless other smaller places too, a magical temple, a castle in the sky, and even the home of a terrifyingly sadistic youkai elder… The village was surrounded- right in the middle of it all. Many people would almost think of it as an infiltration of enemy lines. A mundane home in the middle of the supernatural… actually, many people would think of it as plain stupid. But the human village is a haven. There's nothing to worry about there. It has the protection of the Hakurei miko, right? And there's even another youkai elder who won't let it get overrun. It's a safe spot. It's the only place that people can be content knowing that they aren't going to become food for some non-human _thing_.

"…So help me gods, Kosu, there better be a good reason that you're dragging me out of the village!"

The young woman yelled to no one in particular. There was no one around this far out, of course. After all, she had left the village. She had left the village! What if she got attacked? Akyuu was born an unhealthy girl- one of the many downsides of being the Child of Miare- so if that happened, she was done for. This was idiotic and she knew it. Just because her friend had told her to come out here in a passing comment before she ran off, she had- she had left the village!

But surely, Kosuzu may be reckless, but she's a clever girl, right? She knows this is safe somehow, definitely. Kosuzu wouldn't tell her friend to do something that might get her killed…

…The same Kosuzu that waltzed out of her house and into a forest during the worst storm that they'd seen in years…

Akyuu shivered for a second. She stopped for a moment, took a deep breath, and kept walking. Any farther would be ridiculous. Wherever her friend wanted her to go had to either be nearby or the opposite direction. It _was_ dumb, but she was just getting worried and overthinking things. She would definitely be alright. She wasn't that far from the village…

But there are a few youkai disguised in the village! Sure, they're civilized _there_ , but if one left, well, in the village, they can't eat people, so they would be craving-

"Over here!" A familiar voice interrupted.

Akyuu knew what she would see before she even looked. Kosuzu was on top of a (relatively) nearby hill, waving and grinning. It was too far to tell she was grinning, but Akyuu knew the girl well enough to know without a shadow of a doubt. She sighed, starting to get worn out from all the walking, and made her way over.

Kosuzu jogged down the hill, the bells in her hair making their distinct _jingle jingle_ as she moved. "Ah, sorry, Akyuu! I didn't realize how far this was… But you weren't worrying, right? I know how you feel about that sort of stuff, so I specifically checked with Miss Reimu! Youkai rarely come around here!" She smiled proudly and puffed out her chest.

Akyuu could tell she was staring daggers at the younger girl. It was involuntary, but right now, she didn't have it in her to stop, and light-hearted Kosu probably wouldn't care. " _Rarely_ …?"

Kosuzu grabbed Akyuu's hand and walked back up. "It's fine, it's fine! And it'll be worth it! I know you'll love seeing this."

After the brief time it took them to reach the top of the hill, Akyuu was just getting annoyed. "I don't see anything... This isn't a joke, right? If what you wanted to show me disappeared…"

Kosuzu just smiled and pointed to the side. Akyuu looked off in that direction, and any annoyance left right away.

In the distance was the home of that terrifyingly sadistic youkai elder. The infamous Yuuka Kazami dabbled in things like botany and homicide, and had fun with everything she did. It really wouldn't be too hard to argue that she was the strongest being in their world of legends among legends. Her power was absolutely overwhelming, her ideals were downright horrible…

And her garden was in full bloom.

Akyuu was left speechless. There were countless flowers, countless plants she hadn't even seen before, and all of them were surrounded by intensely golden daffodils. All the variety created an accent for the yellow amazingly, putting on an entirely stationary and absolutely breathtaking show. As the wind blew, the flowers started to dance, color mixing with and in between color, patterns forming and changing and recreating themselves…

Kosuzu's grin widened watching her friend take it all in. "Isn't it wonderful? I'm not usually one for this kind of stuff, but when I saw this, how could I not share it?"

Akyuu sighed, failing to repress a smile of her own, and sat down. "You could've gotten me killed, you know…" It didn't come out nearly as seriously as she wanted it to.

The redhead took a seat next to her. "But I didn't, and now you get to see this!"

Akyuu gave up, and the two girls sat in silence for a while.

"I really like this kind of scene, now that I think about it." Kosuzu muttered to no one in particular. "I mean, of course 'cuz it's super pretty, but at the same time… What's the word? Fleeting, maybe?"

"Ephemeral," Akyuu said. "Did you know that youkai switches between homes all the time? She has a different garden for each season. Each beauty is ephemeral."

"And that adds to it! Something about knowing how little time it'll be before this is gone, it changes the feeling. That 'better enjoy it while it lasts' is just really nice, you know?"

Akyuu kept staring at the scene. "Lots of things are like that. What really lasts in a human world? Sure, there are youkai that remain the same, but for us… It's all missed with one blink. This just really brings it out."

Kosuzu blinked. "…Really?"

Akyuu turned to face her. "Do you think, 'gee, what a transient beauty!' right before you snack on something you just bought?"

"Pfft, no, no! Like, missing things with one blink! You make it sound like everything's gone so quickly! We have a lot of years left. It's not like not doing something one day is robbing us of a super important experience forever. Well, actually, I guess it _might_ , but that's way too unlikely!"

Akyuu turned back to the beautiful sight. "…Well, not everyone has a lot of years left. Some flowers don't last long."

The realization hit Kosuzu suddenly and far too hard for her liking. Akyuu was the Child of Miare. She wasn't allowed to live a normal human life. Since she was young, she was trained to be able to fulfill her duty and record every single thing in Gensokyo that she could. Since she was born, she was designated as different. Her childhood spent studying and not much else, her late life with years wasted with ridiculous work just to allow herself to be reincarnated yet again… And, arguably the worst consequence, Akyuu wouldn't even be allowed to live a normal-length life. All of the Children of Miare lived into their early thirties at best. And given the time it took to prepare… Didn't Akyuu only have a few years of freedom left?

Kosuzu hugged her knees to her chest. The two sat in silence.

"…Even just one year is a long time too, right? So many things can happen in a year. A life could be totally turned upside down…" She cringed at her own words. Should she really be pushing something like this? Shouldn't she have dropped it?

Slowly, Akyuu gently smiled. "And there can be a lot of beauty in that, whether the time is eternal or ephemeral, right?"

The young girl perked up on the spot. "Okay, chill with the ephemeral this and ephemerality that! Use little words like the rest of us!"

Akyuu started to giggle. Kosuzu was the only one she could be like this with. "But-"

"No buts! Little words!"

"But me no want!"

They laughed until their stomachs hurt.


End file.
